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Character Makes a Difference: Where I'm From, Where I've Been, and What I Believe
How powerful is integrity? Just ask minister-turned-statesman, Mike Huckabee. As lieutenant governor of Arkansas in 1996, he was publicly cast between the ultimate rock and hard place when his boss, governor Jim Guy Tucker, refused to resign despite his felony convictions in the Whitewater scandal. Holding fast to the tenets of honor and faith, and his concern over what was best for the state’s people, Huckabee led the impeachment charge against his superior before a televised audience. That same day, Tucker resigned, and Huckabee would serve as governor of Arkansas until 2007, winning many national honors along the way.
Character Makes a Difference is Mike Huckabee’s biographical account of how he handled that potentially major constitutional crisis and why he believes character is the key issue in everyone’s life, “in the work you do, the candidates you vote for, the people who look to you for leadership.”
Character Makes a Difference is Mike Huckabee’s biographical account of how he handled that potentially major constitutional crisis and why he believes character is the key issue in everyone’s life, “in the work you do, the candidates you vote for, the people who look to you for leadership.”
1 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2007
9 people are currently reading
101 people want to read
About the author
Mike Huckabee
56 books62 followersAmerican politician and a political commentator for Fox News Channel. A member of the Republican Party,
Huckabee served as governor of the U.S. state of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007 and finished second in the 2008 United States Republican presidential primaries; he announced his candidacy on January 28, 2007. Following losses to John McCain in the Texas, Ohio, Vermont, and Rhode Island primaries, McCain became the presumptive Republican nominee and Huckabee exited the race on March 4, 2008.
Huckabee is the author of several books, an ordained Southern Baptist minister and a public speaker. He is well known for having lost 110 pounds (50 kg) in a very short time and for advocating a healthy lifestyle. He and his wife, Janet, have been married 33 years and have three grown children: John Mark, David, and Sarah.
Huckabee served as governor of the U.S. state of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007 and finished second in the 2008 United States Republican presidential primaries; he announced his candidacy on January 28, 2007. Following losses to John McCain in the Texas, Ohio, Vermont, and Rhode Island primaries, McCain became the presumptive Republican nominee and Huckabee exited the race on March 4, 2008.
Huckabee is the author of several books, an ordained Southern Baptist minister and a public speaker. He is well known for having lost 110 pounds (50 kg) in a very short time and for advocating a healthy lifestyle. He and his wife, Janet, have been married 33 years and have three grown children: John Mark, David, and Sarah.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
December 28, 2012
Short, easy-to-read book about the necessity of character in any realm of life. I knew some of Huckabee's public background, and some about his faith, but never knew the depth of his convictions until I read his book. I appreciate the way he handled the issues in front of him with grace and conviction, always believing that the Bible was a great source of strength and guidance, even for those who don't believe in the Author.
February 13, 2008
Lines I loved from this book:
Give me the heart of a servant, wisdom for the difficult decisions I will face each day, the courage to stand by my convictions, and the humility to acknowledge my mistakes, of which there will be many.
This is a very critical moment in our state’s history, and it demands that our response be measured only by how effectively we as elected officials act with the caliber of calm yet courage required for such a moment in our history.
Since my childhood, that Book and its Authors have been the guiding forces in my life. And it would be much easier for me to give up being governor than it would be to give up taking the counsel that I have had from God and His Word.
Profanity is not the language of a democracy – Franklin D. Roosevelt
It’s pointless to gripe about how bad the government is and how terrible the laws are if people who have better ideas are not willing to share them and get involved.
Nobody will embrace an idea he can’t understand.
God doesn’t join our organizations; He asks us to join his.
I didn’t vote for him, I don’t like Republicans, but he won the election – so let’s treat him right.
It’s easy to want Him to exercise grace toward me; the real reach is becoming anxious for Him to exercise grace toward others.
Treating people with integrity and respect is the only way to get them to achieve their full potential.
Too often we fail to say, “This is right; anything else is wrong.” Instead we say, “Wherever you want to go if fine.”
People are desperate to justify their own immoral attitudes by saying, “He’s a failure, too, so I’m as good as he is.” Our generation has learned to hold to the standard of each other instead of the standard of God. That is the travesty: God is no longer the standard; we are.
We can’t stand around bemoaning the problems of the world, refusing to act because the situations or the people involved are disagreeable. Those should be the very situations that spur us on.
Sometimes we overreact to something others perceive as a crisis and use all the water we have to put out a small fire.
If you allowed them to, persuasive, well-meaning people would drain every ounce of energy you had for something that didn’t deserve it.
Caution is important because once you take that sort of stand, there’s more at stake than just the issue. Your character is on the line, too. If you cave in, your credibility will be instantly and permanently gone. No one will trust you again. So make sure the issue is worth going to the wall for.
There may be people who are doing things for you with pure motives, but you can never allow yourself to fall into the trap of letting their favors influence your decisions.
I’m sure about one thing; I not only want to know Him, I want others to be able to see Him through the decisions I make and by the way I make them.
I believe the media only reflects culture; it doesn’t create it.
You have no control where you start in life, but you do have control over where you finish.
When a person goes beyond the expected duties and responsibilities, he or she demonstrates higher qualities of excellence, leadership, and accomplishment.
We must convince people that winning ultimately is more important than winning immediately.
The challenge of living beyond our lifetime begins with being more than a critic of what is wrong. We must strive to be a creator of what is right.
The longer I served as governor, the more I tried to remind myself that my most important decisions were not those that would affect the next election but those that would affect the next generation.
I am not to be so ambitious that I start thinking I know better than God what’s best for me.
The most destructive forces in the world are not “out there” somewhere, but inside our hearts.
The worst thing you can do is lose, and even then you can do so with honor.
The darker the world gets, the brighter your light will shine.
Cooperation is not optional for us. If we fail to listen to you and refuse to work with each other, you have the right, and even the responsibility, to elect someone else to do the job.
There is a verse in the New Testament that says, “All things work together for good” (Rom. 8:28). I’ve often been reminded that it doesn’t say all things are good. Some things aren’t, but if we are patient, if we’re kind, if we deeply seek out what we believe to be the right thing to do and stick with it, it is true that all things ultimately work together for good.
A child can experience music at five or six or seven years old and spend the rest of his or her life developing a love and appreciation for it. That child will never outgrow it, and will never come to the place where he says, “It no longer can or should be a part of my life.”
While it is wonderful to study God’s Word, it is even better to live it.
Besides uniting us as Americans, Katrina reminded us of our common humanity. We smugly pride ourselves on being so “advanced,” so “civilized” compared to many Third World countries. We believe we are hundreds of years ahead of them. But really, we are just a day away from joining them. We are not so different from them after all. Our high technology and our complex infrastructure exists and functions subject to the whims of nature, of elements as basic as wind and water.
If you truly care about people, you don’t write off their ability to take care of themselves. You don’t pay them off not to contribute to society. You don’t consign them to a subsistence-level standard of living. You don’t exile them to the plantations of public housing, generation after generation. You include them. You offer them the excitement of learning, the challenge of job training, the dignity of a hard-earned paycheck, so that instead of being stuck in a nightmare of dependency and hopelessness, they get back on track to share the American dream.
Give me the heart of a servant, wisdom for the difficult decisions I will face each day, the courage to stand by my convictions, and the humility to acknowledge my mistakes, of which there will be many.
This is a very critical moment in our state’s history, and it demands that our response be measured only by how effectively we as elected officials act with the caliber of calm yet courage required for such a moment in our history.
Since my childhood, that Book and its Authors have been the guiding forces in my life. And it would be much easier for me to give up being governor than it would be to give up taking the counsel that I have had from God and His Word.
Profanity is not the language of a democracy – Franklin D. Roosevelt
It’s pointless to gripe about how bad the government is and how terrible the laws are if people who have better ideas are not willing to share them and get involved.
Nobody will embrace an idea he can’t understand.
God doesn’t join our organizations; He asks us to join his.
I didn’t vote for him, I don’t like Republicans, but he won the election – so let’s treat him right.
It’s easy to want Him to exercise grace toward me; the real reach is becoming anxious for Him to exercise grace toward others.
Treating people with integrity and respect is the only way to get them to achieve their full potential.
Too often we fail to say, “This is right; anything else is wrong.” Instead we say, “Wherever you want to go if fine.”
People are desperate to justify their own immoral attitudes by saying, “He’s a failure, too, so I’m as good as he is.” Our generation has learned to hold to the standard of each other instead of the standard of God. That is the travesty: God is no longer the standard; we are.
We can’t stand around bemoaning the problems of the world, refusing to act because the situations or the people involved are disagreeable. Those should be the very situations that spur us on.
Sometimes we overreact to something others perceive as a crisis and use all the water we have to put out a small fire.
If you allowed them to, persuasive, well-meaning people would drain every ounce of energy you had for something that didn’t deserve it.
Caution is important because once you take that sort of stand, there’s more at stake than just the issue. Your character is on the line, too. If you cave in, your credibility will be instantly and permanently gone. No one will trust you again. So make sure the issue is worth going to the wall for.
There may be people who are doing things for you with pure motives, but you can never allow yourself to fall into the trap of letting their favors influence your decisions.
I’m sure about one thing; I not only want to know Him, I want others to be able to see Him through the decisions I make and by the way I make them.
I believe the media only reflects culture; it doesn’t create it.
You have no control where you start in life, but you do have control over where you finish.
When a person goes beyond the expected duties and responsibilities, he or she demonstrates higher qualities of excellence, leadership, and accomplishment.
We must convince people that winning ultimately is more important than winning immediately.
The challenge of living beyond our lifetime begins with being more than a critic of what is wrong. We must strive to be a creator of what is right.
The longer I served as governor, the more I tried to remind myself that my most important decisions were not those that would affect the next election but those that would affect the next generation.
I am not to be so ambitious that I start thinking I know better than God what’s best for me.
The most destructive forces in the world are not “out there” somewhere, but inside our hearts.
The worst thing you can do is lose, and even then you can do so with honor.
The darker the world gets, the brighter your light will shine.
Cooperation is not optional for us. If we fail to listen to you and refuse to work with each other, you have the right, and even the responsibility, to elect someone else to do the job.
There is a verse in the New Testament that says, “All things work together for good” (Rom. 8:28). I’ve often been reminded that it doesn’t say all things are good. Some things aren’t, but if we are patient, if we’re kind, if we deeply seek out what we believe to be the right thing to do and stick with it, it is true that all things ultimately work together for good.
A child can experience music at five or six or seven years old and spend the rest of his or her life developing a love and appreciation for it. That child will never outgrow it, and will never come to the place where he says, “It no longer can or should be a part of my life.”
While it is wonderful to study God’s Word, it is even better to live it.
Besides uniting us as Americans, Katrina reminded us of our common humanity. We smugly pride ourselves on being so “advanced,” so “civilized” compared to many Third World countries. We believe we are hundreds of years ahead of them. But really, we are just a day away from joining them. We are not so different from them after all. Our high technology and our complex infrastructure exists and functions subject to the whims of nature, of elements as basic as wind and water.
If you truly care about people, you don’t write off their ability to take care of themselves. You don’t pay them off not to contribute to society. You don’t consign them to a subsistence-level standard of living. You don’t exile them to the plantations of public housing, generation after generation. You include them. You offer them the excitement of learning, the challenge of job training, the dignity of a hard-earned paycheck, so that instead of being stuck in a nightmare of dependency and hopelessness, they get back on track to share the American dream.
February 21, 2009
a VERY good book. tells about Huckabee's unexpected entrance into the Governor's Mansion in Arkansas and why he unapologetically continues to weave scriptural references and his faith in God in his political views. i am becoming more disenchanted with the political state of this country every day, but reading this book helped me regain some hope that there ARE good and Godly politicians out there still that are willing to stand up for the Word and do the right thing...
July 18, 2009
Full of inspiration and encouragement. "Sermon on the Mount and the Book of Proverbs ... a more credible basis for management than any book ever written" "Liberalism and legalism are cancers to the Christian faith". "Truly successful people are more critical of themselves than they are of others". Two opposing Worldviews, Man or God at the center, man is good or man is evil. Can knowledge solve all our problems?
May 9, 2009
This is a very well written book. It is a quick read and a blessing. There is absolutely no fault finding or mud slinging. It is a book of grace, mercy and politics. Impossible? Read it!! I hope he runs for president again--I'll vote for him.
June 26, 2008
Great book. Insightful by allowing us to see how MH thinks and what makes him special as a man and a potential political candidate.
July 19, 2008
Those of you who know me well know that I don't speak politics. However, my candidate of choice would have been this man and in reading this book, it just confirmed it.
February 18, 2016
Very interesting book. A lot of insight to Mike Huckabee's character when becomeing Governor of Arkansas.
December 4, 2014
A great read!
December 14, 2022
Mike Huckabee is a good man to addresss character. As the former govenor of Arkansas, he has a unique platform to view diffeeent "flavors" of cbaracter from those he worked with in goverment serriced to those he served as governor. I reommend thi bok to you for you library.
September 17, 2024
Had it not been Mike Huckabee, I'm not sure this would have been published. I do admire the man - he's a brilliant communicator, but he is still a politician.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews